The Harvard Gazette

Commencement 2013

A collection of stories covering Harvard University’s 362nd Commencement.

Surrounded by family and friends, 111 Harvard College undergraduates were honored on Tuesday during ceremonies at the Knafel Center (photo 1). Interim Dean of Harvard College Donald Pfister (photo 2) noted that graduating midyear may be out of step with the tradition of Commencement, but as graduate Alexander Wells '13 (photo 3) remarked in his speech, “being out of phase” is something that has provided comfort to him.

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Midyear graduates recognized

111 undergraduates are honored at ceremony

From the yearbook of Clarence Agress, Class of 1933, and his entry in the Harvard Gazette upon graduation. Agress returned to campus for Harvard's 362nd Commencement and was greeted by his nephew, Allan Miller (right), Class of 1954.

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At 101, another look around

Agress ’33 recalls early steps — and pranks — in a life of adventure and accomplishment

"I chose to go to Japan because I graduated with a degree in comparative religion and — I didn’t know this at the time — but there are no professional religion comparers out there. It’s not something you can do for money, comparing religions. I studied it because I was interested in it, but there wasn’t a whole lot of cash there," joked Patrick Harlan '93, a comedian and television personality living in Tokyo.

World

Take my passport, please

Patrick Harlan recalls his offbeat path from Harvard student to comedian in Japan

Jane Alexander, acclaimed actress, former head of the National Endowment for the Arts, and the most recent Radcliffe Medalist, urged listeners on Friday's Radcliffe Day to engage with the arts, either on their own or with their children. “It’s important to find what is important to you in your creative life … [and allow] yourself to fail over and over again on your own terms.” Failure, she added, “is the most exacting teacher and defines your path to success.”

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The creative crusader

Actress, activist Jane Alexander receives Radcliffe Medal

The Class of 2013 lines up to process into the Memorial Church for Baccalaureate Service. Restricted to members of the graduating class, the service is intended as a farewell to seniors from the president and clergy, in a less formal setting than that on Commencement Day. Stephanie Mitchell/Harvard Staff Photographer

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Mission accomplished

Oprah Winfrey offering advice to the Class of 2013: "If you're willing to listen to, be guided by, that still small voice that is the G.P.S. within yourself — to find out what makes you come alive — you will be more than okay. You will be happy ..."

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Winfrey’s Commencement address

'The key to life is to develop an internal moral, emotional G.P.S.'

When you fall, Winfrey told the graduating Class of 2013, remember, “There is no such thing as failure. Failure is just life trying to move us in another direction.”

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Winfrey: Failure is just movement

In Commencement address, she counsels graduates to keep grasping for goals

Carl Muller, the president of the Harvard Alumni Association, announced the results of the annual election. Muller '73, M.B.A. '76, J.D. '76, spoke during the Afternoon Program at Harvard's 362nd Commencement.

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Board of Overseers 2013 election results

The elected directors of the HAA were also announced

At Morning Exercises, chairs in Tercentenary Theatre filled quickly as the graduates readied for Harvard's 362nd Commencement.

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Joy by the Yard

Scenes from a sun-splashed Commencement, filled with rituals, reflections, memories, and laughter

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Harvard degrees, certificates for 2013

Scott Yim '13 blogged about his student experiences for the Harvard College Office of Admissions and Financial Aid, gave tours through the Crimson Key Society, participated in this year’s “Virtual Visitas,” and earlier this year he was elected second marshal for the Class of 2013, a lifelong position that carries into alumni life. “This place has been very good to me,” he said.

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He made the most of his opportunities

Senior studied biomaterials to help reduce medical costs abroad

During his year at the Harvard Alumni Association helm, Carl F. Muller ’73, J.D. ’76, M.B.A. ’76, called upon alumni to view Harvard as a powerful thread that connects their past, present, and future lives. Incoming President Catherine A. Gellert ’93 intends to build on Muller’s vision as she works to inspire alumni to engage and connect.

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‘A lifetime of limitless possibility’

HAA president leaves post, legacy remains

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The path to fighting injustice

Turning from music, she’ll work to safeguard human rights abroad

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Take-home lessons

Doctoral graduate studied government while holding office in Mexico

In March, the men’s basketball team shocked the University of New Mexico in its first NCAA victory and second NCAA appearance. The team also nabbed its third straight Ivy League title by defeating Cornell, 65-56, before a sold-out crowd at Lavietes Pavilion.

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A year of change, month by month

2012-13 was a year of inventions and ascensions, elections and projections, digitizing and prioritizing

Everett Mendelsohn, Ph.D. ’60 (from left), Louise Richardson, Ph.D. ’89, Arnold Rampersad, Ph.D. ’73, and Sherry Turkle, A.B. ’69, Ph.D. ’76, are receiving the Centennial Medal from the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.

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GSAS honors four alumni

Centennial Medal celebrates achievement of a select group

Stacks of chairs wait to be assembled in Tercentenary Theatre for Commencement.

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Commencement by the numbers

One year of planning and countless man-hours equal this unforgettable day

The bells in Lowell House tower are among those rung throughout Cambridge to signify that Morning Exercises have finished.

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Bell ringing marks Commencement

For 25 years, the music of local bells has marked this special day

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A vision of education for Kenya

Ed School graduate aims to improve learning outcomes at home

Harvard, said Nancy Gutierrez, took her “from being a good leader to a highly skilled, thoughtful, and reflective leader.” Gutierrez, along with 20 other women and men, are the first graduates of an interdisciplinary Harvard program designed to create a corps of leaders to transform the nation’s public school system.

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Transformative leaders

First cohort graduates from innovative doctor of education leadership program

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Healing hands for an ailing world

HMS/HBS graduate Nwachukwu wants to improve orthopedics

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On the water and in the Air Force

Crew star works toward Olympic berth, as she gets ready to enter military

Prague native Jirka Jelinek ’13 surpassed hardship and poverty to come to Harvard. As his way to pay it forward, he volunteered each year to orient freshmen arriving from other countries, a reminder of the combined awe and confusion he felt when he first walked into Harvard Yard, carrying one suitcase.

World

Triumph against long odds

He grew up poor in Prague, but departs as a Harvard grad, with dreams ahead

World

Across cultural borders

Student returns to help immigrants embrace the arts

After a car accident left Jennifer Cloutier '13 paralyzed at the age of 6, her fascination with science bloomed. “I was exposed to learning without the pressure of school, or the mentality of going to school as work,” she said. “I think that was helpful in developing a real love of learning. I think that you learn to value what you do have.”

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Embracing the magic of science

College senior is poised to open career in medical research

“I was a wild woman on the outside with a hurting child inside; my solutions were reckless — and God was always bailing me out, always waiting for me to slow down,” said Mary Setterholm, a new graduate of Harvard Divinity School.

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Waves of caring

Overcoming tough times, onetime surfing champion helps others to turn lives around

A crop of new classroom and learning spaces across the University is helping to transform teaching and learning, while serving as important models of collaboration. One such collaboration resulted in Zeega, a software platform and social network devoted to digital storytelling. James Burns (from left), Kara Oehler, and Jesse Shapins are co-founders of the software platform.

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One Harvard

These days, the watchword at Harvard is collaboration

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Chasing the caffeine high

With Cabot Café, budding entrepreneur found startup success the old-fashioned way

Oprah Winfrey, the principal speaker
for the Afternoon Program, will be joined
by a musician, author, chemist, mayor,
and others onstage.

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Harvard awards 9 honorary degrees

University recognizes leaders in medicine, media, politics, and more

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A fascination with fixing bodies

Senior draws inspiration from stem cell lab work

Class Day speaker Soledad O’Brien said her travels have shown her that people around the world aren’t so different in their dreams. Bad things happen unless good people put a stop to them, she said. Graduates should be those good people and seek to understand others.

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The truest voice

Drawing from family history, O’Brien cautions seniors on the limits of advice

Fanaye Yirga, 21, had never studied Latin before coming to Harvard. Born in New York, at age 5 she moved with her parents to their native Ethiopia and attended an international school in the capital, Addis Ababa. “If you told me freshman year that I’d be giving the Latin oration at Commencement, I’d probably have laughed you out of the room,” said Yirga, who took her first class in the language as a College sophomore.

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Parting words

Student speakers showcase diverse backgrounds at Commencement

Colin Dickinson (from left), Christian Yoo, Gavin Pascarella, Brian Furey, and Courtney Diekema listened as President Drew Faust praised the students for their dedication and commitment to serve in the military.

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Ready to serve

New military officers depart Harvard with assignments across nation

The Class of 1913 assembled on the Kirkland Street side of Memorial Hall for a class portrait. Among the June 19 graduates were editor and art collector Scofield Thayer, Eleanor Roosevelt’s youngest brother, and a 14-year-old from Turkey-in-Asia. About 65 percent of the class — 375 students — served during World War I.

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Harvard’s lucky ’13s

In three prior centuries, graduates of that year left a rapidly changing Harvard to enter a seemingly stable world

“Harvard’s broadened my worldview and made me more appreciative of culture in general, it’s reaffirmed and strengthened my personal commitment and views both to my Native American and Hispanic side … and it’s just made me more worldly, in academia and with people," said Cesar Alvarez '13.

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Different and not

For post-Harvard Cesar Alvarez, a broader worldview, the same foundation

Jane Alexander (pictured) will be recognized by Radcliffe on May 31. Her "work as an actor and as an advocate provides a model for how one individual can raise national consciousness about the critical role the arts play in shaping ideas and advancing creative thinking," said Radcliffe Dean Lizabeth Cohen.

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Jane Alexander honored by Radcliffe

Actor and arts advocate will be awarded Radcliffe Medal

“Teaching is something that I really love,” said Joshua Greene, who, along with Selim Berker, is a recipient of the Roslyn Abramson Award. “As a researcher, you focus on the frontiers and the edges, but the undergrads that you teach are coming into this all new.”

News

Two named Abramson winners

Professors honored for excellence in undergraduate teaching

“The best kind of learning does not train you to win. It teaches you to ask what winning might mean. It cultivates curiosity and boldness — whether you’re tracking an elusive gene or boarding a bus in Mumbai — and it gives you a new capacity to act, despite the risks," said President Drew Faust during the Baccalaureate Service for the Class of 2013.

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‘Run toward life’

Faust delivers Baccalaureate address to graduating class

The Phi Beta Kappa Literary Exercises, a tradition at Harvard since the 18th century, are an intellectual stereopticon, a dual taste of the literary. There is an address by a poet and another by an orator.

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Poetic justice, of a sort

Remarks from Greenhouse, Kleinzahler at PBK send-off

Naming honorary members and awarding the Alpha Iota Prize for Excellence in Teaching are also part of the Phi Beta Kappa Literary Exercise. Those prizes go to three — sometimes two — members of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. Only PBK undergraduate members are allowed to nominate the candidates.

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Three win Alpha Iota Prize for Excellence in Teaching

At a Volunteer Voices event this spring, Deborah Elitzur ’96 writes about why she gives to Harvard.

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Giving back because of what Harvard gave them

Alumni celebrate why Harvard connections are so important

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He strikes a key balance

After Extension School, a career as concert pianist

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Linking health policy to people

School of Public Health student has passion for improving people’s lives

For the past two years at the Graduate School of Design, Alice Anne Brown studied urban planning — especially how bicycles can make cities more livable, lovable, and viable. “There is no better way to really see a place,” she said of biking.

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Her wheels are always turning

As an urban planner, she hopes to help create greener, bike-friendly cities

The Morning Exercises take place in Tercentenary Theatre. Family members watch graduates process in front of the steps of Widener Library during the Commencement ceremony of 2010. Photo by Stephanie Mitchell/Harvard Staff Photographer

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Commencement: It’s a spectator sport

William Thaddeus Coleman Jr. (from left), Georgene Botyos Herschbach, and James V. Baker are the recipients of the 2013 Harvard Medal.

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Three honored as HAA medalists

President Faust to award Harvard Medals at Commencement

Emmy-winning journalist Soledad O’Brien graduated from Harvard in 1988 and has since reported on breaking news from around the globe.

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Soledad O’Brien Class Day speaker

CNN correspondent to address graduating seniors

Sean Graney (top row, from left), Linda Gordon, Tadashi Tokieda, Julie Orringer, Claudine Gay (bottom row, from left), Michael Kremer, Jennifer Hoffman, and Lucia Allais are among the 49 fellows selected by Radcliffe to pursue projects across the arts, humanities, sciences, and social sciences.

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Radcliffe opens doors of discovery

Fellows to engage in science of toys, comedy of tragedies, design of destruction

“It is an honor to be selected by my class to serve as chief marshal,” said Stephanie D. Wilson ’88. "In an era where inspiring and educating the next generation of young people is crucial, Harvard provides unique opportunities to excel in any chosen field."

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Astronaut named chief marshal

Stephanie Wilson to lead alumni procession at Commencement

Oprah Winfrey will be the principal speaker at the Afternoon Exercises of Harvard’s 362nd Commencement.

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Winfrey named Commencement speaker

Entrepreneur, talk show host will address Afternoon Exercises

Charles Warren Professor of American History James Kloppenberg addressed the 114 students who were being recognized at the 2012-13 Midyear Graduates Recognition Ceremony in the Radcliffe Gymnasium.

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Midyear graduates recognized

Achievements honored as 114 students follow ‘different’ path